“We Have Lost Our Identity And It is High Time We Change That” Singer Kinasha Expresses Concerns, As Amapiano Takes Over Traditional Music In Tanzania.

Music stakeholders in Tanzania are worried about the fading presence of traditional Tanzanian music, especially with the rise of popular genres like Amapiano.

The issue was brought up during a gathering hosted by the US Embassy in Tanzania earlier this month.

Singer Carola Kinasha expressed her concern, lamenting that the current generation is becoming distracted and losing touch with their traditional roots, getting caught up in trends featuring sounds originating from other countries.

According to her,

“The music scene in the country does not support genres like Singeli, an authentic genre that is connected to us and holds the power to make Tanzania stand out. They are going with the trends.

Every song that comes out has either an Amapiano beat or lyric.

While this would have been okay if Tanzanian musicians still held on to the kind of genres that easily identify them as Tanzanians,”.

She explained further that there is now a division between older and younger generations in terms of their musical tastes and perspectives.

“An older person who has witnessed the journey of music in the country understands how fast things have changed.

You cannot even listen to music on the radio or watch it on the television anymore because it’s the same case.

We have lost our identity and it is high time, we change that”.

Adding his thoughts, singer and radio host Innocent Nganyagwa suggested that the government should consider new opportunities in the entertainment sector instead of relying on the same musicians repeatedly.

 

“There is a habit by government officials that they would to regions or districts but would use the same musicians to entertain the residents of the places they are visiting.

There are regions like Dodoma where most of the people in the primary tribe in that region (wagogo) are gifted when it con to music, yet they are left behind because of preferences tha overshadow such talents,” he said.

Adding to the converation, Roger Muntu, a presenter at Voice of America (VOA), mentioned that Tanzania, similar to other African nations, doesn’t appreciate traditional music much.

“This has diminished the ability of the world to identify Tanzanian music whenever it’s played across the world.

Tanzania has to seek examples from countries across the world that excel in music because of the way they have
embraced and protected sounds that are connected to their roots,” he added.

 

Source: The Citizen